Leather-press



' J. T. SMITH. LEATHER PRESS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9, I9l9.

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J. T. SMITH.'

LEATHER PRESS. APPLICATfoN FILED ocT.9,1919.

1,344,21 4; Patented June 22, 1920.

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JAMES T. SMITH, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

LEATHER-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1920.

Application filed October 9, 1919. Serial N0. 329,574.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I JAMES T. SMITH, acitizen .of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of-New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Leather-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that type of presses which are used in the manufacture of leather for pressing it in the last stages of its manufacture, either to flatten it out smooth, called smooth plating, or to emboss upon its .finished surface an articial grain, it being understood that very great pressure with the application of some heat 'to the leather is required for doing this. Obviously the effective lsurface of the press is small 'as compared to the size ofthe leather and for this reason diiculty has been experienced in avoiding marks on the leather from the overlapping of successive` impressions, and also it has been difficult to dispose of or handle the large portion of leather which was not on the bed of the press, without endangering the operators hands. Presses heretofore have had a cast iron or` rigid head held down by rods anchored to a base, such rods being arranged close to the bed and allowing only a very restricted space for the portions of leather which are not on the bed, and for manipulating the same. It has been customary to roll up the leather, leaving only a side portion of about the width of the press bed, andthen when this has been pressed by shifting it along the bed of the press it is rolled up and another portion unrolled.. It is very difficult to manipulate these rolls of leather and at the same time keep the unrolled portion smooth on the bed of the press, and in the effort to do this the operators hands are frequently lcaught inthe press. A' great deal of time is lost and the work of pressing the leather greatly retarded byl so shifting the leather and manipulating the rolls, even when done with safety, and the quantity of product is thus limited'. vAnother difficulty in pressing the leather heretofore has been that there has been no way of measuring the amount of pressure, and the operator sometimes uses too great pressure before he realizes it and damages the leather.

The obj ec'ts of the present invention' are to secure a leather press in which ample space i, is provided for the portions of the leather which are not upon the bed of the press; to thus avoid the necessity forl rolling up the marginal portions of the leather and unrolling them as the leather is shifted upon the. bed of the press; to relieve the operator of this work of rolling and necessity for holding the rolls with his hands; to thus leave his hands free to smooth out and adjust the leather upon the bed of the press; to secure an improved product, in which the pressing is more perfectly done without lap-marks and the like; to secure a. pressure which will yield beyond a certain point; to thus avoid marking or damaging the leather; to utilize for the purpose of securing a yielding pressure, a head formed of material which will slightly spring under pressure from the bed of the press; to utilize this yielding for measuring the amount of pressure; and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views Figure 1 is a side elevation of a press o my improved construction, showing the platform and table in section, and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same on line 2-2, Fig. l.

In the specific embodiment of the invention shown in said drawings, l indicates a, suitable base, which in this instance I have shown composed of heavy I-beams 2, 2, and provided at its opposite ends with uprights 3, 3 which carry a top piece 4 to the under side of which the head 5 of the press is secured, said head being steam-heated in any usual and well-known manner (not shown) so as to better impress the leather forced against it as hereinafter described. The said uprights 3, 3 may be of any suitable form or construction, but I have shown them as each an Lbeam supported at its lower end by bolting to thebase I-beams 2, 2 and braced by braces 6, 6 extending laterally outward to the ends. of an angle iron 7 arranged transversely of the base. Suitable corner braces 8, 8 are also bolted one at of the base 1 and also to the adjusted upright 3.

Midway of the uprights 3, 3 and at a considerable distance therefrom a vertical guideway 9 is mounted upon the base l, and in said guideway is mounted a sliding bed 10 adapted to'coperate with the head 5 to each end press the leather, said guideway being of' any suitable construction commonly employed in presses and said sliding bed being adapted to be reciprocated vertically by any suitable and well-known means, such as the toggles 11, 11 adapted to be forced apart by the up-stroke of a cam roller 12 having end bearingsin guide blocks 13 in vertical slots 14, said roller being actuated by a cam or eccentric 15 turned by power through any suitable mechanism under the control of the operator. The bed 10 has at its edges and substantially flush with its top an extension 16 which has its outer marginal portions 17 curved downwardly, `as shown, so that the top of the bed and the extension together form a large table to receive the leather, considerably larger than the leather gripping portion of the press, and thus the leather is supported and held out flat for a much larger extent of itself `than the portion actually pressed at one time. This enables the leather to simply lie over the table, fully extended, and be easily Vand readil shifted by the operators as required to bring different portions of it successively between the bed l10 and head A5 of the press. This saves a great deal of time and enables the output of the machine to be increased fty per cent. The product is also superior, and the operators do not run any risk of injury.

The uprights 3, 3 are spaced far apart, at the ends of the base 1, not only to give room for the leather to hang over the table but also to provide a long top-piece 4 which can spring or bend slightly on such a curvature as will not disturb the parallelism of the head 5 at the middle of said top-piece to the bed 10, the said top piece 4, base 2 and uprights 3 forming a polysided head supporting frame. This insures a pressure for the leather which is somewhat resilient and will not mark the leather if some portions are thicker than others or where the edges of pressed portions overlap, although it will be understood that this resiliency is very slight and does not prevent the leather receiving a pressure of three hundred pounds or more to the square inch. The resiliency is furthermore utilized for measuring the pressure exerted, as by connecting the movable member of a measuring device to the middle of the beam or top piece 4 and fulcrumed upon a stationary or fixed support. I have shown this done in the drawings by mountin a bar 19 upon the uprights 3, -8 byf means o brackets 20, 20 so that said bar lies parallel tothe beam or top piece '4 at the front side of the press and does not partake of the up and down springing of the beam or top piece.- A lever 21 is fulcrumed upon this bar .19 las at 22, and pivotally` connected intermediate its ends tothe beam by a shackle S23-so that as the beam springs up and down the free end of the lever will move correspondingly. Then by connecting said free end of the lever to av gage 24, which I have also shown mounted upon the bar 19 the pressure can be read by the operator as the leather is pressed, and he can know whether or not it is all right. Any other suitable means for transmitting the movement of the top piece 4 to a pressureindicating device might be used instead of the one which I have shown and described,

While I have shown the invention as embodied in a leather smooth plating or enibossing machine, it will be understood that the invention is equally well adapted for use in other types of presses, or in connectioi with the manufacture of other materia s.

Various modifications and changes may be made in manufacturing 'my improved machine by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself except as required by the following claims when construed in `the light of the prior art. f

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

l. In a press of the character described, the combination of a polysided frame, a head mounted upon one side thereof, a movable bed mounted upon that side of said frame opposite the said head to coperate therewith, said bed being spaced from all sides of said frame and free from all sides thereof except that side upon which it is mounted, so that the work being operated upon can be 'slid over the bed and those4 portions of the work not immediately on the bed depend over the edges thereof into an out-of-the-way position.

2. In a press of the character described, the combination of a polysided frame, a head mounted upon one side thereof, a bed mounted within said frame and spaced from all sides thereof,- guide means to coperate with said bed mounted upon that side of the frame opposite said shead and spaced from all other sides of said frame, and means arranged `between said guide .means within said frame forl actuating saidbed toward and from said head. V

3. In a press of the character described, thel combination of a base, uprights mounted uponopposite ends of said base, a top piece arranged between the said uprights and supported thereby, a head mounted upon said toppiece and spaced from the ends thereof, a bed mounted between said base and said head to coperate therewith and spaced from said base, top piece, and uprights, spaced guide members to receive said bed between them projecting inwardly from said base and spaced and free from said top piece'and uprights, and means arranged besides thereof except'that side upon Whichtween said guide members for actuating said bed toward and from'said head.

4. In a press, the combination with a movable bed, guide means for said bed, and

actuating means for moving said bed in said guide means, of a head supporting frame comprising a base to support said bed guide means and actuating means, uprights on said baseI spaced and free from said bed, guide means and actuating means, a top piece mounted on said uprights and extending between the same, and a head mounted upon said top piece and spaced from said uprights.

5. In a press of the character described, the con'lbination of a polysided frame, a head mounted upon one side thereof, a bed mounted withiny said frame and spaced from all sides thereof, guide means for said bed mounted upon that side of the frame opposite said headand spaced and free from all sides thereof except that side upon which said guide means is mounted, and an extension for said bed forming therewith avtable substantially flush with the working face of said bed so as to receive the work being operated upon bythe press and facilitate its application and removal to and from the said bed.

6. In a pressyof thecharacter described, the combination of a polysided frame, .a

head mounted upon one side thereof, a bed.

mounted Within said frame and spaced from all sides thereof, guide means for said bed mounted upon that side of the frame opposite said head and spaced and free from all said guide means is mounted, and an extension for said bed forming therewith a table substantially flush With the Working face of said bed, said table being spaced from all sides of said frame so as to receive the Work being operated upon by the press and facilitate its application and removal to and from the said bed, the Work as it has been operated upon by the press sliding over the said table and depending from the sides thereof.`

7. In a press of the character described, the combination of a polysided frame, a head mountedvup'on vone side thereof, a bed mounted within said frame and spaced from all sides thereof, guide means for said bed.

mounted upon that side of the frame opposite said head and spaced and free from all sides thereof except that side upon which said guide means is mounted, said uide means being arranged between said be and the said side of the frame upon which the guide means is'mounted so that the Work can be slid over the bed and those portions of the work not immediately upon the Working face of the bed depend over the edges of the bed into an out-of-the-Way position.

8. In a press of the character described, the combination of a frame having an elongated top piece of spring material, a head fixed on said top piece and spaced from the ends thereof, and a reciprocating bed to cooperate with said head, said top piece yielding under pressure upon said head Without destroying the parallelism of said head and bed.

9.v In a press of the character described, the combination of a frame including a rigid base, uprights mounted thereon, a top piece formed of spring material mounted upon said uprights and extending between the same, a head on said top piece and spaced from the ends thereof and said uprights, and a reciprocating bed mounted on said base to coperate With said head, said top piece yielding under pressure upon said head without destroying the parallelism of said head and bed. y

10. in a press of the character described, a bed, means for reciprocating said bed, a head opposite said bed, and a top piece carrying said head and enough longer than it to yield or spring under pressure without destroying the parallelism of said head to the bed. y

1l. In a press of the character described, a bed, means for reciprocating said bed, a head opposite said bed, a top piece carrying said head and enough longer than it to yield or spring under pressure, and pressure measuring means arranged and adapted to be operated by such movement of the top piece.

12. In a press of the character described,

`a bed, means for reciprocating said bed, a

head oppositesaid bed, a top piece carrying said head'and enough longer than it to yield or spring under pressure, a xed support, a member engaging said fixed support and-the top piece, and pressure indicating means connected to said member.

13. In a press of the character described, a bed, means for reciprocating said bed, a head opposite said bed, uprights at the opposite ends of the head and bed and 'spaced therefrom, atop piece mountedon said uprights and carrying said head, said top piece being enough longer than the head to spring under pressure, a bar parallel to said top piece and secured at its opposite ends to said uprights, a member engaging said bar and top piece, a lever pivotally engaging said bar and top piece, and pressure indicating means connected to said lever.

JAMES T. SMITH.

say 

